PHOTO BY PAULA MULLER
Mark Shilo, Cubmaster for Pack 55, climbs up the side of an abandoned Girl Scout hut in Jackson Park to have a look at the condition of the roof. He is proposing renovating the hut for scout use.
BY GAYLA CAWLEY
SWAMPSCOTT — Boys are one step closer to using the shuttered Girl Scout hut in Jackson Park for scouting activities.
Cubmaster Mark Shilo said Pack 55 Cub Scouts and Troop 53 Boy Scouts are planning to reuse the vacant dwelling for den meetings, cookouts, camping skills and an outdoor classroom. The 75-year-old building has been empty since 2007.
Last week, the Board of Selectmen approved the scouts’ use of the hut if the building inspector says it safe, said Naomi Dreeben, chairwoman of the board.
“I think it’s a great idea,” said Laura Spathanas, vice-chairwoman of the board.
Shilo said it lacks running water, electricity and bathroom facilities. He doesn’t envision electricity in the future, but plans to use lanterns and sustainable renewable power. Before the front door was boarded up, he said the cub scouts used it for about five years for similar purposes. No one could recall the last time it was used by the Girl Scouts. He said the rustic building is suited for boy scout activities.
“We’d just like to be able to use it again,” Shilo said.
If the building passes inspection, Shilo said the scouts would clean and perhaps paint it, he added.
Gino Cresta, Department of Public Works director, said the hut is a shell of a building, with four stone walls and a gravel floor. He hasn’t been inside since 2007, but said the interior would mirror the outside.
Cresta said the hut wouldn’t need much work, and if it passes inspection, should be available for use within “a couple of weeks.”
“I think it’s a great idea,” Cresta said.
One issue the scouts may face is parking. There’s none around the hut. Some options are parking on Foster Road or at Swampscott High School, Cresta said.
“It will be a useful, good thing for the community,” Shilo said. “This would be a good way to open up some more space here that would be pretty much for us. We wouldn’t need to fight other groups for it.”
Gayla Cawley can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @GaylaCawley.